Hi folks, sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been consumed by school and every free moment has been spent thinking about politics. The fact that the vote on proposition 8 is so close makes me crazy. I want it to fail so badly. I keep hearing that if it passes, because it is a constitutional amendment, it will mean that I won't see gay marriage in California in my lifetime. Which means I will always be a second class citizen. And that any other minority group is at risk of a ballot proposition taking away their rights. Talk about a slippery slope, which is terminology the other side tends to use.
Wednesday night I was dreading doing phone banking because I always hang up on everyone who calls me who is not a personal friend. And in fact lots and lots of people hung up on me. The other volunteers joked it was karma getting me back. But overall it was a great experience because I felt like I was doing something positive for the No On 8 campaign. And the other volunteers were really friendly and upbeat. It was an awesome atmosphere.
I haven't seen a place so polarized by the religious/secular divide since I was in high school and Yigal Amir shot Yitzhak Rabin. This level of polarization does no one any good. We are all in this together. There is only one planet. One environment. Demonizing the other side hurts everyone.
In fact, the atmosphere in California today reminds me a lot of high school and the year after high school that I spent in Israel (I gave my valedictory speech on the negative effects of a deeply polarized society-- using Israel as my example-- since I couldn't talk about feminism or gay rights per the principal so that is how I addressed it indirectly). It still makes me sad to think of it. I truly believe history would have been less violent if Rabin had not been assassinated. Murdered. And the repercussions of that bloody moment are still being felt in Israel today. And as for me personally, because of that nanosecond that changed history, I will probably never live in Israel again in my lifetime because as much as I love the land and parts of the culture, there is no peace, peace which at one time seemed a real possibility and now is as elusive as acceptance in California.
Sometimes it is hard to understand these things. Not even why they happen, but just the sadness of it seems so incomprehensible, so much larger than me and my individual life.
It's been a tough time for me personally too, for even though I have no desire to get married, I have felt under attack for being gay. I realize that the level of acceptance of homosexuality even in the Bay area is a lot less than what I naively imagined. Several of my classmates that I assumed were liberal have basically told me to my face that they don't think I deserve the same rights as them. It hurts. Again, it also reminds me of being in high school in North Carolina, where the hatred was blatant.
I am looking forward to this election being over, so I can have my life back and not be consumed by worry over it. But I try not to worry, it is mostly out of my control. I will continue to volunteer with the No on Prop 8 campaign, I will vote, and that is about all I can do.
If any of you are interested in doing something, I recommend giving money. Talk to people about your views. Educate people about the lies being put out there by the other side.
And if you want to read a truly depressing article, go here.
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3 comments:
You are AWESOME!! That's great that you have been doing the phone calls, I started doing that too. I understand how nervous you are about it, I have been a wreck about it for the last 2 months now. Hopefully it doesn't pass and I'm really proud of you for getting involved even with your busy schedule! I have to say, "You Rock!"
The more I think about Prop 8 going down in California, the more I worry about the future of our country. In NC we have a woman running for a Senate seat who is in favor of bringing gay marriage to the state. All I know about this woman, from mailings and TV ads bashing her, is that she is an open-minded liberal. That is enough for me. In the lovely conservative state of NC, it's about time that someone threw a cog in the wheel of crap that tries to keep people down for their lifestyles, religious beliefs, etc.
I'm glad that you are getting involved in the phone banking. It's so important to get the word out and to educate the rest of the world that being gay, bi-, whatever isn't a disease.
I'm praying for you guys.
If people who support prop 8 could have been at the party celebrating the marriage of my gay coworker earlier this year maybe they would change their minds. I never seen any straight couple so overjoyed and emotional about their marriage. I would hope that putting a face on this issue (and this particular guy is the friendliest, most pleasant human being I have ever met) would make it clear that the scary gay couples that they are afriad will destroy life as they know it just aren't the reality.
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